Renault Master is the name used by
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
vehicle manufacturer
RenaultRenault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, buses, tractors, and trucks. Due to its alliance with Nissan, it is currently the world's fourth largest automaker. Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Renault owns the Romanian automaker Automobile Dacia and the Korean automaker Renault...
for its upper-medium size
vanA van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground, also referred to as a light commercial vehicle or LCV...
(around the
GVWA gross vehicle weight rating is the maximum allowable total weight of a road vehicle or trailer when loaded - i.e including the weight of the vehicle itself plus fuel, passengers, cargo, and trailer tongue weight....
3.5 tonne segment) — similar in size to the largest models of the more common
Ford TransitThe Ford Transit is a range of panel vans, minibuses and pickup trucks, produced by the Ford Motor Company in Europe.The Transit has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle in Europe for 40 years, and in some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic term...
.
Over its lifetime several different body styles have been available, from the standard van to bigger models with an increased load area, height, and longer-wheelbases with an
LWB prefix.
Renault Master is the name used by
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
vehicle manufacturer
RenaultRenault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, buses, tractors, and trucks. Due to its alliance with Nissan, it is currently the world's fourth largest automaker. Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Renault owns the Romanian automaker Automobile Dacia and the Korean automaker Renault...
for its upper-medium size
vanA van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground, also referred to as a light commercial vehicle or LCV...
(around the
GVWA gross vehicle weight rating is the maximum allowable total weight of a road vehicle or trailer when loaded - i.e including the weight of the vehicle itself plus fuel, passengers, cargo, and trailer tongue weight....
3.5 tonne segment) — similar in size to the largest models of the more common
Ford TransitThe Ford Transit is a range of panel vans, minibuses and pickup trucks, produced by the Ford Motor Company in Europe.The Transit has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle in Europe for 40 years, and in some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic term...
.
Over its lifetime several different body styles have been available, from the standard van to bigger models with an increased load area, height, and longer-wheelbases with an
LWB prefix.
Panel vanA panel van is a form of van; in some national usages it is distinct from a purpose-designed van in that it is based on a family car chassis; elsewhere in the world it applies to any solid van, smaller than a lorry or truck , without rear side windows — in this usage the term is...
s are very common, but
pickupsA pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area which is almost always separated from the cab to allow for chassis flex when carrying or pulling heavy loads....
are also available.
First generation
Early Renault Masters were unusually styled and distinctively Renault products — with, for example, round door handles resemblant of the
Fiat StradaThe Fiat Ritmo is an automobile from the Italian manufacturer Fiat, launched in 1978. Styled by Bertone of Italy, it was seen by some as the most distinctive looking small family car in Europe on its launch in 1978 Turin Motorshow. It was badged in Britain, Canada and the U.S. as the Fiat Strada...
.
They competed with a number of other manufacturer's products, but also with the smallest models of Renault's own
Dodge 50 SeriesThe Dodge 50 Series, later known as the Renault 50 Series were light commercial vehicles produced in the UK by Chrysler Europe and later Renault Véhicules Industriels between 1979 and 1993....
, which was latterly being built as the Renault 50 Series after Renault's acquisition of the UK Dodge production facilities (at the time of
PeugeotPeugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest European carmaker.Peugeot's roots go back to 19th-century coffee mill and bicycle manufacturing. The Peugeot company and family is originally from Sochaux, France. Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant and...
's take-over of
Chrysler EuropeChrysler Europe was a division of the Chrysler Corporation that operated between 1967 and 1979.-Formation:In the 1960s, Chrysler sought to become a world producer of automobiles. The company had never had much success outside North America, contrasting with Ford's worldwide reach and General...
).
First generation vans were available with 2.5D or 2.8TD
diesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber during the final stage of compression...
s.
Current generation
The current generation, though primarily developed by Renault, is more conventional in appearance and is also available as the almost identical
Opel MovanoThe Opel/Vauxhall Movano is a mid-sized commercial vehicle sold in Europe from year 1999 and underwent its first facelift in late 2003. The vehicle is available in a wide range of variants, including a choice of three wheelbases, three roof heights and three gross vehicle weights...
(and
VauxhallVauxhall Motors is a British automobile company owned by Magna International and General Motors. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of Magna's Opel brand; however, production of left hand vehicles also takes place for export to other parts of Europe and certain marginal...
Movano), and from Renault's closely-related partner Nissan, renamed the
Nissan Interstar; the arrangement mirrors the collaboration between these companies on the Master's smaller counterpart, the
Renault TraficRenault Trafic is the name used by Renault for recent generations of its light vans.
-Prior generations:The first versions of the Trafic were sold in the 1980s, and were somewhat revised and updated during their lifetime, including a major facelift...
.
The van has received a mid-life major facelift with the headlight area being heavily restyled, and now somewhat resembling the smaller Trafic.
Related vehicles
Renault Mascott
Renault Theault